The Artist’s Way
Julia Cameron

Having owned The Artist’s Way, (by Julia Cameron) for several years did me no good until last year when I actually ‘did’ the program. The program is a twelve week commitment to your creative growth. During the twelve weeks I did weekly exercises from the text, had weekly ‘Artist’s Dates’ - a short time playing like I did when I was five years old, and did twenty minutes of writing each morning in a practice that Cameron calls ‘Morning pages’.
This process was great on so many levels. First committing to a twelve week process and finishing it was awesome -- I started and finished something! There was also growth through the exercises. Each week there are tasks or writing assignments designed for reflection into your creative past, look for causes of blocks, or reconnect with the sense of play present in childhood.
The ‘Artist’s Dates were particularly challenging for me. I am very serious and not prone to ‘wasteful activities such as “play and recreation”. The act of taking myself out for the purpose of play - just for the fun of it - reconnected me to the wonder of my youth... One thing I did discover is that I always play when my camera is in my hand - though I had never noticed before.
Since the conclusion of the program I have begun to exhibit my work, lecture, have been asked to hold a committee position on my local quilt guild board, have become the regional representative for SAQA and have begun to enter juried competitions. I also continue to take myself too seriously and then stop myself! It is an ongoing process, but Julia Cameron lays out a set of things to consider and practice to express your inner creative genius.
If you were wondering -- The Artist’s Way is not only for artists... it is a program for “discovering and recovering your creative self.” In the book she talks about the many lawyers, teachers, doctors, housewives and such that have benefited from the program in addition to artists, musicians, writers and the like. Pick up a copy, commit and start!

http://www.theartistsway.com/

I was just recommending that a friend join Twitter with the express purpose of following Pam RuBert aka PamDora. As I was looking for a link I went to her site - was rooting around and stumbled on this article about organizing sketch books. Great information. I am off to add tabs to my sketch books right now!

http://pamdora.com/blog/2009/03/26/twelve-tips-for-organizing-your-sketchbooks/